Teenagers and Drug abuse : A modern day conundrum.

Teenagers and Drug Abuse

Hey teens, sliding into adulthood can be a jungle so here's one of the animals that could eat you up: drug abuse.

Drug abuse is not a new term to many and it's found in every nook and cranny of the globe. It is simply the illegal intake or consumption of any drug. This means that even a simple drug as aspirin can be abused.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's survey on drug abuse, about 23.5 million people in the USA aged 12 or older need treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol problem in 2009 and the numbers are just skyrocketing.
Teenagers are a troubled bunch and the rapid change in our lives could make us feel there is solace to be found in drug abuse.

REASONS FOR TEEN DRUG ABUSE

1) Depression

Depression is like a disease that plagues many teenagers and even adults. It could result from school stress, social anxiety, problems at home and sometimes, it just comes. It's that feeling of sadness that just won't go away. Many teenagers experience this and then use illegal drugs as an escape route. That's why anti depressants are getting higher on the list of abused drugs.

2) Curiosity

Everyone is guilty of that moment when you just want to know what the forbidden fruit tastes like. Teenagers know the dangers of drug abuse but still fall prey to it for the simple reason that their curiosity got the better of them.

3) Peer Pressure 

 

 

The kind of company you keep affects every part of the lives of people especially teenagers and if you keep friends who are into drug abuse, there's are high possibility of you falling off the wagon too.

4) Ignorance 

It's safe to say almost every teenager has abused a drug at one point in their life with varying lethal levels. For example, I have taken more than the required dosage of aspirin before hoping for a quicker relief! Unfortunately, the ignorance of many other teenagers has more fatal consequences.

The number of drugs that are being abused are numerous. Some of them are:

-Alcohol: Yes it is a drug.
-Marijuana
-Heroin
-Cocaine
-inhalants like emulsion paints
-Meth
-Sedatives
-Anaesthetics
-Anti depressants.
The list is endless.

Drug Abuse is not a walk in the park. It comes with many negative consequences and below are some of them.

1) It leads to a serious health deterioration: 

The human body is very fragile and a continuous intake of all these drugs could prove fatal to health. It weakens the immune systems making the body vulnerable to diseases, it causes an abnormal function of the cardiovascular system which could lead to heart attacks in the long run, it overworks and eventually weakens the liver, etc. Drugs had also been known to reduce the reproductive ability of people. I know many teenagers are not planning for children now but best not ruin our future chances.

2) It reduces brain power 

Drugs can alter the function of the brain by causing the whole body to flood with dopamine thus messing with the brain's reward system thus making drug addicts have a feeling of euphoria (highness).

3) Drugs change our behavioral system

Some drugs can make scoundrels even out of the most decent people. They usually cause aggressiveness, paranoia, hallucination, poor self control, etc. Drug abuse can change who you are.

4) Drug abuse could lead to addiction

 

This is the most dreaded of them all. At this stage, the drug becomes you and it is usually difficult to stop these drugs. Addiction makes taking these drugs like breathing. You just can't stop it and the more you take it, the more serious the above mentioned consequences and your addiction become.

Becoming a drug addict is not always by choice but finding help and getting better is something that is placed in our hands. Addiction is a very fiendish problem and getting over it is very tedious but worth the trouble.

Ways to recover from addiction

1) Diagnosing the problem:

The first step to any form of treatment is diagnosis. As an addict, you need to know and accept you have a problem and go for help.

2) Specialized treatment:

Lucky are those who go for help with the experts. These treatments take a while to complete and may sometimes seem hopeless. However, as an addict, you need them. They will not just help you with the addiction but also help to manage any damage it may have caused to your health. This form of treatment can also involve mental therapy.